Project Overview
Sanofi closed its Advanced Pharmaceutical Intermediates (API) Pilot Plant in Bridgewater, New Jersey in 2010. The following year, Sanofi announced plans to shutter the entire site and market the property as a business campus.
To improve the marketability of the campus, Sanofi wanted the API plant and building removed and the area converted to greenfield. Conventional demolition proposals exceeded $1 million, but Phoenix Equipment offered a different approach: purchase the plant assets, recover value from the equipment and recyclable materials, and complete the removal work at no cost to Sanofi.
Phoenix purchased the assets in April 2012 and safely completed the project by October 2012. The approximately $1.25 million project eliminated a major demolition expense while also providing Sanofi with a payment for the redundant assets.
The Challenge
Sanofi needed to remove the API plant and building as part of the broader redevelopment of the Bridgewater site. Conventional demolition proposals exceeded $1 million, while the facility still contained more than 100 pieces of process equipment with viable secondary-market value.
Phoenix had to recover those assets, complete the demolition, and return the area to greenfield condition within the larger site.
Asset Recovery & Equipment Resale
Phoenix purchased the plant and equipment outright and assumed the cost of dismantlement and removal. More than 100 pieces of process equipment were safely rigged out for resale, including:
- 13 Hastelloy reactors
- 9 glass-lined reactors
- 3 filter dryers
- 13 Hastelloy heat exchangers and condensers
- 3 centrifuges
- 4 shelf dryers
- 12+ Sparkler and Nutsche filters
- 5 milling systems
- 10 temperature control units
- 10+ tanks
- 4 chillers
- 10+ pieces of laboratory equipment
- 10+ scales
Phoenix also recovered more than 250,000 pounds of non-ferrous material and more than 1,500 tons of carbon steel through recycling.
The value recovered through equipment resale and material recycling allowed Phoenix to pay Sanofi for the assets while eliminating the demolition cost Sanofi would otherwise have incurred.
Turnkey Dismantlement & Site Restoration
Phoenix provided a complete dismantlement and demolition program that included equipment rigging, building demolition, scrap recycling, utility safe-offs, electrical terminations, masonry-material testing, extermination, soil erosion control, and landscaping.
An eight-person crew spent approximately six months executing the project without injury or incident. Phoenix used heavy demolition, rigging, and lifting equipment to complete the plant removal and site restoration.
The project concluded with the former API plant area converted to greenfield, supporting Sanofi’s plan to market the larger Bridgewater property as a business campus.
Project Highlights
- Client: Sanofi
- Location: Bridgewater, New Jersey
- Facility: Advanced Pharmaceutical Intermediates (API) Pilot Plant
- Site Objective: Remove API Plant and Building to Improve Business Campus Marketability
- Alternative Demolition Cost: More Than $1 Million
- Phoenix Scope: Plant Acquisition, Equipment Recovery, Rigging, Building Demolition, Scrap Recycling and Site Restoration
- Equipment Recovered: More Than 100 Pieces (See Liquidation)
- Major Equipment: Hastelloy and Glass-Lined Reactors, Filter Dryers, Heat Exchangers, Centrifuges, Filters, Mills, Tanks and Chillers (See Liquidation)
- Non-Ferrous Material Recovered: More Than 250,000 Pounds
- Carbon Steel Recycled: More Than 1,500 Tons
- Project Timeframe: April 2012 – October 2012
- Project Duration: Approximately 6 Months
- Project Value: Approximately $1.25 Million
- Safety: Completed Without Injury or Incident
- Final Condition: Former API Plant Area Converted to Greenfield
- Owner Outcome: Paid for Assets / $1M+ Demolition Cost Avoided / Site Converted to Greenfield
Turning a Demolition Cost Into Asset Recovery
Sanofi initially faced more than $1 million in demolition costs to remove the API plant and prepare the property for redevelopment. By purchasing and remarketing the process equipment, recovering recyclable materials, and completing the dismantlement and restoration scope at its own cost, Phoenix turned that expense into an asset-recovery outcome: Sanofi was paid for the redundant equipment and received a greenfield area ready for the broader campus redevelopment.